Truck body



w. T. DOVE TRUCK BODY Filed June 10 Jan.

1919 15 Sheets-Sheet l .New

QM?! du w; T. DovE- Jan. s 192:4.

TRUCK BODY Filed June 1'0 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Jan. 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES A 1,480,247 PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER T. DOVE, OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY, ASSIGNOR TO NEWTON D. BAKER, SECRETARY OF WAR, TRUSTEE.

TRUCK BODY.

Application filed Juize 10, 1919. Serial No. 303,220.

(FILED UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1883, 22 STAT. L., 625.)

To al@ 'whom t 'may concern.'

Be 1t known that I, Captain WALTER T. DOVE, Ordnance, United States Army, a citizen of the United States, stationed at Washington, District of Columbia, have invented an Improvement in Truck Bodies, of which the following is a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any of its ofiicers or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or by any other person in the United States, without payment of any y royalty thereon.

This invention relates to improvements in vehicles for army purposes and consists in an improved combination body, especially adapted for the transportation of ammunition, as an ambulance and also as a troop transporting medium or as a vehicle wherein all of the above uses may be combined.

An object is to provide a vehicle of such a construction as to permit convenient and expeditious loading and unloading and avoid second handling of the projectiles'in either operation.

Another object is to provide means whereby ammunition may be loaded or unloaded without disturbing either the troops or wounded that have been previously placedV on the vehicle, and whereby it will be unnecessary to in any way interfere with the ammunition when loading the troops or wounded.

A further object is to provide for not only the prompt loading and unloading but also for loading and carrying the ammunition without damage to same.

Another object is to provide for the comfortable transportation of troops and severely wounded and also provide' a convenient place for an attendant for the wounded or those that are not severely wounded and can travel in a sitting position.

Similar reference numerals indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawing in which Fig. l is a side elevation partly broken away of the improved ammunition truck body with parts of the chassis shown;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the improved truck body;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation with parts in dotted lines;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on line 4 4 of Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section on line 5 5 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 6 is a detail plan view of one of the mmunition carrying or supporting memers.

It has been found good practice in modern warfare to establish what is known as an ammunition dump a suiiicient distance in rear of the front line to be outside the danger zone. Ammunition is conveyed in large quantities to the ammunition dump on railroad cars and there stored. From said ammunition dump the ammunition is distributed in trucks to the different artillery firing positions as required, said firing positions being in many instances several miles distant. Y

The infantry firing lines are usually from one half to two miles in advance of the artillery positions, and the troops occupying said infantry firing lines are transferred to rest areas located in many instances four .v

or live miles in rear, and fresh troops brought up to replace them approximately each week or ten days. Under some conditions the troops above referred to are transferred all or part of the distance to and from vthe firing lines in trucks.

First aid stations are located at the infantry firing lines and also at the artillery firing positions. From these stations the wounded are conveyed at times to field hospitals located preferably about four or five miles to the rear and later from said field hospitals to base hospitals. These moves are usually made in ambulances.

The present material, available for the transportation of ammunition from the dump to the firing lines with special reference to projectiles for the 4.7, the 6 in. or 155 m/m rifles and howitzers, is the common form of truck having a rectangular pressed steel body. Therefore under service conditions it is generally necessary for the details of men assigned to trucks handling projectiles to ride in the body on them, and consequently the projectiles are always dirty, rotating bands gritty and often otherwise damaged due to their contact with the iioor of the body and other projectiles. Considerable time is consumed in loading and unreading at it is. massime fermement 'ont man to be at the tail gate at one time and itat also, necessary toclean the projectiles,

and'r'cp-air' any damage to, the rotating bands before they are inv condition for use@ said unloading, cleaning and repairing be.

ing performed under the most trying conditions, and when no timieShOn-l'd bel wasted.

Vith the present equipment when the wounded are to be transferred to the rear, an` ambulancev which is a specially construct'ed vehicle-,fthatfis usefull for noother purpose is sent forward empty on the special mission referred to. rIhe ambulances n ot only waste an empty'outg'oing trip, but

'con-ges't-the traffic and increase the damage tothe road'.

The present invention is designed to 'counteract all--the defects above referred to in theo'ld practice and equipment and consists oflan improved bodythat may be used *cnt h'e elias'sisof either Nash Quad or F. W.

i "DL 'trucl s without alteration to either the 'stiffenersl "chassis org-transoms.

Thebody has the same general outline as 'theI old 'bodies-, and is of 'j the saine simple -rtype-of st ructu're but is approximately 12- to inches wider and consists of the bottom.

' 1', side walfls 2 2, front wall Sand rear end gates iV-4.

The usual 'bodystiiener channels 5 are "provided and between said stiffeners, the

side walls are out away as shown leaving narrow 'strips orflanges 7 parallel with the Ammunition com artments 8 are arranged along bothsid-es o. 'the body its entire length andI are formed by the upright plates 9- and horizontal plates 1-0 properly bracedto provide a substantial structure-5 saidx compartments each having about ldoo'rs or closures 11 are hinged at 12 along ftheirupper edges.

The compartments yare fitted with doubly grooved ammi-mitten carriers 13 preferably o'f wood, the lower off which is arranged on the door; of: the compartimenti the other dem" rier being mounted' on brackets approximately sin` and one-half inches above the lower carrier.

The ammunition carrier 13 for convenience in4 replace-ment; may be divided into two or'- more lengths,- andi 'may be braced or reinforced by meta-l pieces 1f1; said carriers are also provided with l'grooves iin their npperfaces to receive the-projectiles and prevent their-'rolling in a transverse direction. Ihe-iowert-.or deepest portion 15' of the grooves isf'o'n an are corresponding to the smallestrcaliber projectiles and a smally portion of the upper part of the grooves as shown at-l' conforms togthearc of the largest caliber projectiles; (see Fig. 5) 'in this way the several sizes of projectiles will. be firmly Seated to prevent displacement'.

The grooves are deepened at appropriate positions as shown at 18, to receive the rotating bands of the different sizes of projectiles to Vprevent injury thereto and longitudinal displacement of the projectiles.

Special reference i's-directed to the fact that with the above described construction of carrier, provision is made for the, reception of projectiles of not only a variety of lengths andv calibers but for variation in position of the rotating bands'on the projectiles; saidcondition is obtainable only by the speci-al form of grooving referred to and is shown in detaily in Figs. 5 and 6. Hinged at 19A to the upper inner corner 9- of the compartments, are pla-tes 20 adapted to swingover on top of the upper plate 10 of the compartment and when in said position a vcushion 21 isplaced thereon to provide a comfortable seat running the entire length ofboth sides of the truck body about 1 8 inches above-'the floor or-'at the standard heightfof a chair. r The hinged plates 2O are preferably divided into forward sections of about six 'feet in 'length and rearsections about three feet o in length, each being separately hinged.

The width of plates 2O is preferably one fourth the width of the truck and when swung upon the hinges 19' from a position overlying or resting upon the .plates 10 to the position shown indotted lines', Fig.

ei they will bridge the V'spaces between the compartments and form with the top 'plates 10 al shelf spaced from the Hoor and adapted to support light freight orf litters with wounded.

It will be noted that the hinged plates 2O are of such a length that when the forward portion is adjusted into the litter carrying or ambulance position, there is provided space sufficient to accommodate one-litter. carrying 'a wounded man on the o'or of' the truck between the ammunition compartments and two litters on top of said false bottom.

The remainder or rear portion of the truck may be arranged to accommodate such as slightly wounded or those that may travel in a sitting positioin or may be loaded with empty boxes or other freight.

Any preferred form of support may be provided for the hinged plate 2O when swung to center, forinstance brackets 22 adapted to be pivotal'ly mounted on the inner face of the ammunition compartment, that may be swung out to support the plates, or folded back against the face of the4 compartment, when. not in use.

If found necessary to stiifen the body, .owing to its additional width, reinforcing plates 23 may be provided, that match with the transoms 24 and the parts securely assembled by bolts 25.

The weight capacity of the present standard truck as used for the transportation of ammunition is from 2 to 3 tons or from four to six thousand pounds, this capacity is usually reached when a layer of either the 4.7 or 6 projectiles cover the bottom of the truck. The weight of a 4.7 round is about 67 pounds so that 64 rounds of ammunition would constitute a full load for a truck under favorable transportation conditions. This number of 4.7 rounds could be stored in one layer on the bottom of the ordinary truck. With the 6 round only 40 could be loaded on the bottom of the truck which would give a load approximately equal in Weight to that of 64 4.7 rounds.

F rom this it will be seen that there is no loss in carrying capacity in the present design of truck body since ample space is provided for the number of rounds set forth.

The detail of men for handling the load of projectiles if the carry at the firing position is for instance, two or three hundred yards, is as many men as can be carried in the truck on top of the projectiles amounting at times to ten or even more men, who must stand on top of the projectiles or sit on the edge of the truck.

Any one familiar with the subject realizes the value of affording the maximum comfort to the troops, since it is a'well known fact that the efficiency of the men is in direct proportion to their personal comfort, and it will therefore be obvious that the present improved truck provides for the transportation of the weight capacity of projectiles, and comfortable accommodations for the detail of men up to fourteenon its outward bound trip and also possesses means for immediate conversion into an ambulance with a capacity of three litters and at the same time having suicicnt space for four persons to sit, on its return trip.

It will also be clear that the construction of body shown will permit the transportation of crated projectiles such as 8 or 75 m/m which may be conveniently placed in the compartments.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

An army truck, including seats, movable parts attached to the seats for convertingr the seats into litter carriers and ammunition carriers beneath the seats, said carriers provided with grooves, the sides of the grooves formed of curved surfaces of different radii whereby ammunition of dilierent sizes may be retained in the grooves.

WALTER T. DOVE. 

